Malawi's women arrived in Morocco in July as Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) debutants and left as the story of the tournament. By mid-August, the Scorchers were continental runners-up and the first Malawian senior team to qualify for a World Cup. That run still frames how the country talks about the game, whether the [...]
Nyasa Times News Desk
Nyasa Times Reporter
12h ago · 3 min read
Malawi's women arrived in Morocco in July as Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) debutants and left as the story of the tournament. By mid-August, the Scorchers were continental runners-up and the first Malawian senior team to qualify for a World Cup.
That run still frames how the country talks about the game, whether the subject is the Flames' AFCON 2027 qualifiers or Malawi football betting on the domestic Super League. Here is how they did it, match by match.
Getting there at all
Malawi went into the tournament ranked 153rd in the world, the lowest of the 16 teams in the draw. Qualification itself was new ground. After a 0-0 draw with Angola in Luanda in October 2025, Faith Chinzimu scored twice in two minutes of the second leg in Lilongwe to seal a 2-0 win and a first WAFCON place.
Coach Lovemore Fazili's squad was drawn in Group C alongside record 10-time champions Nigeria, with Zambia and Egypt completing the four. Few outside Malawi expected them to get out of it.
Beating the champions
The opening game on 28 July at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat settled that. After a goalless first half, Temwa Chawinga scored in the 73rd minute and her sister Tabitha doubled the lead six minutes later. Rasheedat Ajibade's stoppage-time penalty cut the gap, Temwa restored the two-goal lead in the fifth added minute and Uchenna Kanu's late goal made it 3-2. The win ended Nigeria's record of never losing to a debutant at the tournament since 1998.
Rose Kadzere and Chinzimu scored before half time and Temwa added a third as Egypt were beaten 3-1 on 1 August. A 2-1 defeat by Zambia left the top three level on six points. Malawi topped the group because they had scored the most goals in the matches between the three.
A World Cup place against Ghana
The quarter-final on 9 August carried a second prize, because each winner qualified directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil . Ghana led through Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah after seven minutes. Temwa equalised five minutes later and Kadzere won it in the 79th minute.
The 2-1 win sent Malawi to the semi-finals. It also gave the country its first World Cup qualification by any senior national team, men's or women's.
The semi-final and the final
Algeria were next, on 12 August at the Rabat Olympic Stadium. Tabitha scored in the 33rd minute and Temwa doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time. Ikram Adjabi pulled one back for Algeria before Tabitha made it 3-1 on 76 minutes. Malawi became the first debutants from southern Africa to reach a WAFCON final.
The final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium on 16 August was one step too far. Cameroon scored three times before half time, twice through Marie Ngah Manga and once through Naomi Eto, and won 3-0 to claim their first continental title after three final defeats.
Nine goals from the Chawinga sisters
Of Malawi's 12 goals, the most scored by any team at the tournament, the sisters provided nine. Temwa scored five and Tabitha, the captain, the other four. Temwa finished level with Ngah Manga and Zambia's Barbra Banda as top scorer. Her two assists gave her seven goal involvements, the most of any player.
The Kansas City Current forward was already a record-breaker in the United States. In 2024 she scored 20 goals in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a single-season record, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP).
What the run leaves behind
Flames coach Kalisto Pasuwa pointed to the Scorchers' performance in the build-up to the men's AFCON 2027 campaign. His side opened it with a 2-1 win over South Sudan in Lilongwe on 25 September. The Scorchers' own next assignment is the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.
GPGrace Phiri
2h agoFinally some clarity on this. Thanks for the detailed breakdown.
JBJames Banda
1h agoI hope the authorities actually follow through this time.
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